Is the Asus Xonar Essence STX and Sennheiser HD650 a good combo?

this is my first post on this forum. I've been reading through many threads today trying to determine whether or not my planned audio solution is going to provide quality sound in the various areas I need.

I listen to music through my PC with onboard realtek sound and a pair of Sennheiser HD555's. It's ok for entry level stuff, but I want to really appreciate the flawless audio tracks I have. In addition to this I watch Blurays through my PC and obviously would love to hear the quality audio from them as well. And lastly, I'm and avid gamer and have always scrimped on having a quality audio solution when playing games like Skyrim, Battlefield 3, DayZ etc.

My question is this, will the Asus Xonar Essence STX (with headphone amp) and the Sennheiser HD650 headphones deliver decent sound quality for each of these three areas?

STX sounds like a good option. It outperforms just about every DAC/AMP combo in its price range as far as specs go. It doesn't have as powerful of an amp as the Magni, but its got a higher SNR and is still pretty powerful(7Vrms maximum output I believe).

You're going to want some gaming audio features like Dolby Headphone IMO, and using an external DAC is generally not going to provide you with that. Which is what bumps the STX ahead a little more.

Although if you do decide to go external you can still get a cheap soundcard and use its optical out and still have those gaming audio effects.

Thanks for the replies chaps. So far it seems like they're not an awful combo, which is good as I'm mentally building myself up for the purchase (which isn't the best thing to do really.. but I'm a sucker for new toys :D )

I have a Xonar ST, it sounds great, should work fantastic with those senns

Same here. It definitely does not "underpower them"; it's more a matter of if you are going to be happy with the sound it ends up delivering. FWIW compared to my little dot IV it does a perfectly fine job.

Plus the DAC on it is great, so it's always a good way to upgrade just the amp if you wanted to.

Thanks for the replies chaps. So far it seems like they're not an awful combo, which is good as I'm mentally building myself up for the purchase (which isn't the best thing to do really.. but I'm a sucker for new toys :D )

I would say to look into replacing the 3 op-amps in the Essence STX.

AD797BR or THS4032 op-amps

Make sure you disable the motherboard's built in audio (in the BIOs) when you install the Essence STX,

I might be interested in pairing the HD600 or HD650 with the Asus Xonar STX. From my understanding, the STX would be able to drive them, but not to their full potential. What benefits would I hear (if any at all) if I paired it with an external AMP around the same price range such as the Magni or E09K?

I might be interested in pairing the HD600 or HD650 with the Asus Xonar STX. From my understanding, the STX would be able to drive them, but not to their full potential. What benefits would I hear (if any at all) if I paired it with an external AMP around the same price range such as the Magni or E09K?

You have no idea of how much a source able to drive to "full potential" costs . Head-fier commonly believe/think that the hd650 "scales well" with source, which means in other words, that you have to spend bucketload of money , before reaching "full potential".

You have no idea of how much a source able to drive to "full potential" costs . Head-fier commonly believe/think that the hd650 "scales well" with source, which means in other words, that you have to spend bucketload of money , before reaching "full potential".

I'd rather buy a better headphone, but that's just me.

That's the thing. I don't plan on spending $500 - $1000 on an amp to make them 'scale' better. I am looking for something under $200 to drive them 'good enough'. If I had that much money, I would just purchase a better headphone as well.

That's the thing. I don't plan on spending $500 - $1000 on an amp to make them 'scale' better. I am looking for something under $200 to drive them 'good enough'. If I had that much money, I would just purchase a better headphone as well.

The xonar stx is enough good for most headphone on the market.

If you don't like the hd650/hd600 with the xonar stx, it's not "upgrading" the source, that would change this.

You might be interested by tube amps, they alter sound in a way that audiophile like.